1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparatus and an associated method for transporting and storing hazardous or toxic waste so as to resist undesired exposure of the toxic or otherwise harmful waste material to the surrounding environment during shipment and storage and, more specifically, the present invention relates to a stress-absorbing, two-container combination employed for such purposes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
For many years, governmental agencies have become concerned about the hazards people, animals and the environment are exposed to due to hazardous or toxic waste materials. Such concerns have resulted in legislation and regulations at both the federal and state level in the United States, as well as in numerous other countries. Such concerns have resulted in the need to categorize materials in accordance with degree of risk, as well as the specific nature of contamination and tolerable concentrations of these materials in air, water, and soil. Whether one is considering nuclear materials, heavy metals, or chemical compounds, for example, the attention directed toward these problems has focused on eliminating or minimizing the use of materials that are potentially hazardous, remediation of existing hazardous waste sites, and transport and safe disposal of hazardous waste materials.
There are many industrial and laboratory activities which produce hazardous or toxic waste material as a by-product on an ongoing basis. It has been known to render benign hazardous or toxic waste materials in situ by processing soil, water or air. It has also been known to remove hazardous or toxic waste materials and to convert them to a safe, storable material by means, such as chemical conversion or storing the same in glass or concrete storage containers from which the materials will not leach.
Often railroad or truck accidents result in spillage of hazardous waste or toxic waste materials and, thereby, create a hazardous condition. There is therefore, an ongoing need to provide improved means for safe transport and storage of hazardous or toxic waste materials.
There has been a great deal of prior art dealing with packaging of products other than hazardous or toxic waste which involve providing both inner and outer containers. For example, ordinary dry cereal packaging contains a paper inner bag within which the product is contained and an outer box which must be opened to gain access to the inner bag.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,197,018 discloses the use of a wire or rod, open frame outer container within which a bag may be introduced. The composite package is said to serve as a shipping container. See also U.S. Pat. No. 1,495,000.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,748,673 discloses the use of a shipping container having a bag for bulk materials which is introduced either into outer metal container or an outer box.
It has been known to provide a container which is flexible and made from a tube by providing suitable closure members at the ends thereof. See U.S. Pat. No. 3,851,688.
There remains, therefore, a very real and substantial need for improved apparatus and methods for transporting and storing hazardous waste materials.